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CAIT releases digest on FDI in retail, hints at another agitation

The agitation relating to foreign direct investment in retail is far from over. A compendium released in the capital on Thursday - called "FDI in Retail Trade on India - Assumption v/s Facts" - purports to touch upon "all aspects and implication" and present them to the government.

"This digest seeks to compile all the views on FDI in retail that have been published in media and also includes all the relevant studies and presentations on the subject," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

This book release is a precursor to the National Governing Council meeting of CAIT to be held on 10th May. This apex body represents the interests of local, small retailers, trade federations, associations and small scale sector and had initiated the Bharat Vyapar Bandh in December last year that saw the participation of up to 15,000 trade bodies and shopkeepers and had resulted in an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 crore. "This is our attempt to place all facts - even those that favour FDI in retail and also those that argue against it. We will meet and deliberate on further course of action and an agitation plan," said Khandelwal.

Among other things, the book shows how the government's projection on 10 million jobs in 53 cities through FDI in retail is unrealistic due to the model of operation of international retail chains. According to it, nearly 5 crore traders and 22 crore other people dependent on it will be affected.